The Mongol Siege of Kiev: Silver Horde 20th Anniversary - FAQ

Not really, but the 20th anniversary of the Mongol Empire invading the Rus makes a perfect theme for the 20th anniversary of a Mongol Empire reenactment club. This is actually a cultural and historical educational fair in Long Island, New York.

To attend an SCA event, you must wear a Medieval looking costume which we refer to as garb. If it looks like it might be an outfit worn by a person from any culture of the Middle Ages or early Renaissance at 10 feet away, its passable for attending an event. Any appropriate SCA garb is perfectly acceptable at this event. But since you asked, we would prefer something a bit more Mongol, or at least Asian. The theme of Silver Horde 20th Anniversary is 13th century Mongol Empire invasion of Kieven Rus. So the ideal garb would be of a steppe nomad from the 13th through 16th century or Kieven through Golden Horde era Rus.

If you prefer to present yourself as a person (or as we would say in the SCA, take on a persona) from a sedentary farming culture but remain appropriate to our theme, you still have quite a variety to choose from as the Mongol Empire was the largest contiguous country the world had ever seen.

If that list still leaves you with nothing to wear, here are some sites with ideas for making your own Mongol garb:

If you look at a historical map of 13th century Eurasia, you will find that the Ihe Mongol Uls (Mongol Empire) spanned from Hungary to Korea, from Russia to the Himalaya, from the Mediterranean Sea to the Pacific Ocean, and included the Ilkhanate of Persia, the Yuan dynasty of China, the Golden Horde (or Qipchak Khanate, or Ulus of Jochi, as it was more likely called in period) of Russia, and many other important subject cultures and regions such as Tibet, Nepal, Uighur, Samarqand, Korea, Georgia, Armenia, Crimea, as well as artists, merchants, slaves, and ambassadors from far away places such as France, Venice, Germany and Rome. Remnants of the Mongol Empire lasted until well into the modern age in areas such as Crimea and Bukhara, with Mongols settled in places such as Afghanistan and Poland through the present day. 0.1% of the population of the world is believed to be direct decendants of Chinggis Khaan.

Genghis Khan is a very Anglicized version of the Great Khan's name, and the result of successive translations. Chinggis is his actual name as it is written and spoken in his native Mongolian tongue. Khaan or Khaghan is his title. The Persian historians Juvaini and Rashid al-Din recorded his hame as Jenghis due to a limitation of the Arabic alphabet. It lacks any letter for the phenome 'Ch' so the letter for 'J' is used instead. Most other spellings are the result of translations of his name from these Persian histories into Indo-European languages. He was actually born Temüjin and changed his name to Chinggis during his coronation as Khaan over the Mongol tribes in 1206.

"The land of the Francs" is how people of the Mongol Empire referred to Europe. Ambassadors from Europe to the court of the Mongol Khans were referred to as visitors from the land of the Francs in Persian histories. It is probably from European merchants in the Middle East using French as a trade language, or the prominence of France in European politics at the time.

"The Mongol Yoke" refers to the expanse of the direct political and economic influence of the Mongol Empire. This term is used to include regions under Mongol control even if they were never explicity conquered or occupied by Mongol forces such as northern parts of Kieven Rus, and sea trade routes around South Asia.

Mönggülig Ordu is the proper Mongolian name for the Silver Horde.

The Silver Horde is group of friends with a common interest in Mongol history and culture. We are independent of the SCA, though our primary activities are through participating as a household in the SCA with rare exception. Our interests range from Martial Arts and Archery, to Cooking and Brewing, to Scribal and Fine arts, to Linguistic and Historical research, to Horses and much much more. We have organized this event to celebrate our 20th anniversary.